National Cancer Institute provocative questions

The US National Cancer Institute (NCI) has published a list of 24 provocative questions in oncology and has issued a funding announcement to address the questions.

Proposals are invited from US and non-US institutes for projects that seek to answer a single question. Standard and exploratory grants are available from a total pot of $17.5 million. Questions include "how does obesity contribute to cancer risk?" and "are there definable properties of a non-malignant lesion that predict the likelihood of progression to invasive or metastatic disease?".

A full list of the provocative questions can be found below, alongside information on funding and how to apply. Letters of intent must be submitted to the NCI by 14 October 2011. Applications are due in 14 November 2011.

NCI provocative questions